10 Things to Do in Gdynia and Open Air Festival 2017

Gdynia is a popular Baltic Sea resort in Poland, most attractions of it are located near the pier and port. I will tell you about some lesser-known things to do in Gdynia and the most famous festival organized in the area, the Open Air Festival, which I accidentally visited in 2017. Below you can list the top 10 things to do in Gdynia. Read on!

Interesting About Gdynia

Gdynia for a few hundred years was a small fishermen village, until a huge port was built here for the purposes of the nearby Gdansk, which contributed to the rapid development of Gdynia. In 1926, it got a city title. Today, the population of the city is about 250 thousand people, and even more people visit the city to enjoy its beaches and see some attractions of Gdynia.

Museums of Gdynia

In Gdynia, the weather is not always good because of the nearby sea, so it is a good idea to know some places to visit in Gdynia in case of bad weather. It is a small town, but it has a lot of interesting museums. Below are the top 5 museums in Gdynia.

Navy Museum

Part of the Navy Museum is located by the sea, because it is a ship that was used for war purposes during the Second World War. The destroyer ORP «Blyskawica» (lightning) is a ship museum since 1976. Interesting and unusual museum. Worth a visit.

Tickets: regular 14 zł, reduced 7 zł.

Official website of the Navy Museum: http://www.muzeummw.pl

«Dar Pomorza»

Besides «Blyskawica», there is another ship called «Dar Pomorza» (gift of Pomerania). More precisely, this is a three-wheeled sailing ship (frigate) purchased by the Pomerania community in 1929 for the Gdynia Maritime School. Now, it is one of the most visited attractions in Gdynia.

Tickets: regular 8 zł, reduced 5 zł.

Official website of the National Maritime Museum and «Dar Pomorza»: http://www.en.nmm.pl/dar-pomorza

Museum of Emigration

Another interesting museum of Gdynia is the Museum of Emigration, which was founded just in 2012. The museum tells about the history of Polish emigration. The mission of the Museum of Emigration in Gdynia is to tell about the fates of millions of both anonymous people and celebrities whose names appear in the context of great scientific, sports, business and artistic achievements.

Whatever country you are from, it is very plausible that you know some people that were born (or whose children were born) in Poland, but now live near you. Find out about the history of Polish emigration here.

Tickets: regular10 zł., reduced 6 zł.

Official website of the Museum of Emigration: http://www.polska1.pl/en/

City Museum of Gdynia

Find out more about Gdynia and its history in the City Museum of Gdynia, which is located at ul. Zawisza Czarne 1, not far from other attractions of Gdynia.

Tickets: regular 10 zł., reduced 5 zł

Official website of the City Museum of Gdynia: http://www.muzeumgdynia.pl/

Gdynia Aquarium

Gdynia Aquarium can also be counted as a museum. Good place to explore with children, but it will be interesting for all ages. In 2016, the Aquarium recorded a record of 504,040 visitors. The aquarium is located at al. Jana Pawła II 1.

Tickets: regular 24 zł., reduced 16 zł.

Official website of the Gdynia Aquarium: http://www.akwarium.gdynia.pl/

Gdynia Port and Pier

I have already told about a few places to visit at Gdynia port and pier, but I will say that the pier itself is an interesting attraction. Here are many small cafes and kiosks where they sell ice cream, waffles, fried fish and other goodies. It has a very loose and pleasant atmosphere as a port city should have, even when the weather is not good enough to go swimming in the sea.

Redłowski Cliff

Among the natural attractions and things to do in Gdynia apart from the sea are its parks and cliffs. One of the most beautiful cliffs is Redlowski cliff (Orłowski cliff), which is located in the south of the Redłowo district (or in the north of the Orłowo district). There is even a shopping center called «Klif» (cliff).

Torpedownia

According to the Wikipedia, ‘torpedownia’ is the common name of a central facility of German torpedo research centers, built in Poland during the Second World War. Gdynia also has one. It is located on the Babie Doły near the almost unused Mostowo airport (several flights a month and the Open Air Festival for 4 days a year, which I will tell you about later). It looks similar to oil extraction platforms. It is not currently used in any way, but it is worth visiting such an abandoned construction a few hundred meters away from the shore and making some apocalypse pics.

Sea Towers Gdynia

Sea Towers is a complex of high-rise buildings looking very different to the rest of the buildings in Gdynia. The tallest skyscraper has 38 floors, which creates an interesting contrast with the coast of Gdynia, which looks quite impressive on the photos.

Kamienna Góra

I really like to climb to some high panoramic point to see the entire city below. Such a place in Gdynia is Kamienna Góra (Stone Mountain). The district itself, which has the same name, is considered to be the most luxurious district of the city and one of the most prestigious in Poland, and its buildings are largely owned by well-known artists and entrepreneurs.

 

These were the most interesting things to do in Gdynia, worth visiting in this seaside town, especially if the weather is not very good. Now, I will tell you about my impressions about the massive Gdynia Open’er Festival that I visited in 2017.

Gdynia Open’er Festival 2017

And, now I will tell about my adventures at the Gdynia Open’er Festival (Gdynia Open Air Festival) in 2017. Overall, I was thinking of going there, but I only knew a few bands from about 30, and the prices were too high.

But, the day before the start of the festival, my cousin told me she could not come because her boyfriend got sick. So, I got 2 tickets and invited my friends. One of them agreed, but he decided to join me one day later than I came to the place.

So, at 12 I decided to go by 12:45 train, quickly bought a ticket and booked a place at the hostel (amazing, I found a place for 80 zł, around 20 Euros, even though the previous day the cheapest were for 120). On the place, I met a Pole from Lublin and a Slovakian guy from Bratislava. They also traveled alone, so we went to the festival together.

From the main station to Mostowo airport all the time during the festival there were free buses, so in 20 minutes we reached the place where it was organized.

The next day after visiting some attractions in Gdynia, I met a friend from Poznan and went together to his girlfriend and her friend that lived at the festival (had a car and a tent there). They slept in the tent, we stayed in the car. I can sleep everywhere, so it was not a problem for me at all. After the last day of the festival, we had a train at 4am, and we survived :).

What is the Gdynia Open Air Festival?

Mini-town for students and teens, having almost everything to have fun and party. 6 stages, a few small buildings similar to clubs, shops, bars, food-trucks with very different fast-food that looks so tempting that you want to try everything.

Concerts start almost in the morning, and when there are no concerts, the bands are preparing for them. So, the music plays all the time, the mini-town doesn’t sleep for those 4 days. If prices were lower (food started from 25 zlotys, 6 euros, beer from 9 zlotys for 0.4 l, 2 euros, which is very expensive for Poland), there would be no point in leaving the festival grounds. I highly recommend the Gdynia Open’er Festival!

It was my weekend at the Open Air Festival and the top 10 things to do in Gdynia. Read here about my 1 day in Gdansk (city near Gdynia) and how to spend it best, or move to Valencia, where you can spend 2 days for only 18 euros. Travel more!

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